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Welcome Bekj,

You have come to the right place for empathy and support. I don't have experience in your particular condition, but the thing we all have in common on this forum is that chronic pain has affected our lives. There will no doubt be others who respond to your post who have a similar condition and may be able to give some suggestions.

Have you been to a multi-disciplinary pain management clinic? They usually have a team of a pain physician, physio and psychologist who can teach you about how chronic pain affects the central nervous system and ways to help manage that as well as techniques to cope with living with chronic pain.

Again, welcome 🙂

Fee

Welcome bekj,

As Fee has said, you have come to the right place for help and support. We can't offer you a cure unfortunately, but we can help you to get on the track of managing your pain.

One of the worst things with pain is fear. Your chiropractor should really know this because what he has told you is enough to put a lot of fear into anyone. I can tell you this from personal experience because I had a doctor who told me that I needed "urgent neck surgery" and "don't bring your xrays in again because they scare me". Well, I was so petrified that my pain levels soared. Fear and stress will do that with chronic pain. i didn't need surgery at all either.

What your chiropractor didn't tell you is that there are millions of people in the world with xrays that look just like yours but they have little or no pain. No one knows why some of us end up with chronic pain and others don't.

If you haven't already been seen by a neurosurgeon or an orthopaedic spinal surgeon or a neurologist, it may be worth doing. I somehow feel that you may have already done that and that is why you decided to see the chiropractor.

When you have chronic pain, your central nervous system gives off all sorts of signals that produce a lot of extra pain that is not necessarily a signal that something is wrong. The best way to manage al this is to learn the strategies that a pain clinic can teach you. Are you on any medications?

Perhaps the best thing to do is to book a double appointment with your GP and see what course to take. You could enquire as to whether there is a pain clinic nearby at the same time.

Mary

Hi Bekj,

Welcome to the forum. You will find it a great place to get support from people who like you live with chronic pain and have few places or people to turn to.

Can I please ask, who it was that diagnosed all those symptoms and damage done to your body?

Peter

Hi and welcome bekj, being confronted with a diagnoses like that straight of the bat would frighten anyone, as you have said you have lived in silence for years and somehow managed to cope. Having this Chiro give you this bad news in one hit has caused you a whole lot of worry, this has now got you thinking about your injuries and know that is a bad thing in itself, once you start to focus on your injuries the pain levels increase, then frustration and anger come into play, depression and before you know it you are stuck in this viscous cycle.
Take Fee's and Mary's advice and seek some help that is close to you, a good multi-disciplinary pain management support behind you will have the best outcome any of of could wish for.

Again welcome and I look forward to taliking more

Don

Thanks for asking that question Peter. It was the most glaring thing i noticed.

welcome bekj.i am so sorry to hear what you have been through and still going through.i hope someone can offer you some good advice and support on this forum.you have come to the right place.hang in there.take care.

Thank u everyone for ur words. I did see a neurosurgeon years ago whom suggested surgery which I feel too young for atm. 38. I have done pain management clinics thru Fremantle hospital. Found no benefit from that. Had done clinical Pilates and lots of physio. So after all these attempts I left myself untreated for many years which I guess has deteriorated my spine all the more. After recently being crippled I went to Mandurah chiropractic. Dr David Minns who has discovered all these issues. I have although sent my scans thru to my father who is seeking further opinions by another Dr in Perth. My job now although is in turmoil as I work in childcare. Thanks. Bek

Hi Bek
When your CP threatens your work that will increases your stress and thus increase your pain. For some holding onto our jobs is our last effort in refusing to let CP take over our life and who we are. It can be a hard thing to do as sometimes its our job that can cause flare ups with CP. Just remember to be good to your body. I found that when I spoke to my boss ( I work with children)and discussed that I was nolonger able to do some tasks at work she was happy to change the roaster to deal with that.
I hope that you are able to keep doing what you love.
Wendles

🙁 ok since I first joined this forum, two weeks ago my spinal condition has become increasingly worse. I had to quit my all time favourite job and buy crutches to move about. As previously mentioned I am 38 and now crippled and in chronic pain to the extent I cant walk at times and fall to my knees. I scream out randomly and frighten my daughter. The poor dear who is six had to help me in the shower today, dried my legs and aided me to get dressed. How sad. My chiro has now mentioned that my condition is chronic and he more than likely cant treat me as its pretty messy in my back. Not just his opinion. I had to call a friend to drive me to hospital last night for pain releif. Not much they could do unfortunately as I have tolerance to meds. I am going to head back to my doctor on Monday for referal to surgeon and another MRI. last scanwas in 2002 wwhere I had significant spinal damage but as I was only in twenties spinal surgery was out of the question. I woukd like to ask anyone how the process is likely to get onto disability payments and anyone that may if had spinal fusion surgery. Im guessing that is what I will be up for. It is only one issue with my spine but I guess that will b my first to tackle? Thanks and appreciate any feedback. 🙂

Oh and btw I have done pain clinic through fremantle hospital. In answer to previous comments. Cheers

Very sorry to hear you are struggling so much with pain at the moment Bekj.

Sending you lots of empathy wishes.

Sorry I can't help you with anything to do with the back as I don't have any experience. I hope you are able to get some medical guidance soon.

Best wishes,
Fee

Hi Bekj,

Sorry that you are having such a bad time at the moment. I think that your plan to head back to your doctor on Monday is the best plan. He/she may be able to get you in to see a specialist. I have had spinal surgery and, for me, it was not successful. I think they may have fixed the facet joint narrowing that I had but I have had chronic nerve pain ever since. It will depend entirely on what your doctors tell you after you have been investigated. If there are few, if any, changes since 2002, then they may suggest more conservative methods. Spinal surgery is a big step and if you already have chronic pain it isn't always successful. But, as I said before, all will depend on what happens after you have had a thorough investigation.

As far as the Disability Pension goes. As far as I know (unless it has changed), your GP can fill out the appropriate forms to get things started. Then there is an interview with Centrelink, followed by another interview with a case manager who i think is actually a psychologist. If all is well after that, then you become eligible for the Disability Pension. I know that they have made changes to the criteria this year. However, since you are the carer of a 6 year old, I would think that would be taken into consideration.

The first step will be to see your GP on Monday.

Good Luck, I hope it goes well for you.

Mary

Hey Bekj,I used to go to a chiro,and he actually made things worse,they say pharmacists and dentists are failed doctors,well god knows what some chiropractors are!if anything makes you feel uncomfortable in treatment,then it's probably doing damage.i went to a chiro that was quite well known and spoke to him about both lower back and neck problems, he tried adjusting my neck, and told me to relax and stop tensing,I was,he said wow your neck muscles are really stiff and ended up trying anyway and gave me some serious problems.be careful with these things and if you no longer attend a practice, for future reference,get a synopsis of each visit,in case the problems get worse.i also seen a psychio about lower back pain,she tried acupuncture in the lower back and i got extreme pain and screamed and felt drowsy and horrible for hours afterwards p.s didn't help.just be careful with these types of treatments,they can sometimes do more damage than good.always get a written synopsis of treatments after every visit.i learnt the hard way.i know it's hard,but keep up with the Pilates,the last time I went to the hospital orthopaedic unit I was given stretches coinciding with Pilates and minimal actual manipulation of the spine.core strength is key to lower back injuries,I cannot stress this enough!good luck and take care mate.

Hi Bekj,

Like Mary I have had a double spinal fusion just over 2 years ago and I also have chronic nerve problems as well. Yes get the MRI and your gp will probably refer to a neurosurgeon. And make sure you get a few opinions something I didn't do and now I wish I did.

It sounds like you have lots of different issues so it must be very hard looking after your little one. Oxy is right core strength and posture is very important. I go to hydro-therapy though this actually stirs up my nerve pain, I persevere because its keeping me strong and walking. I'm wondering do you have the nerve problems in your feet? I do and it's just plain nasty. I just doubled my dose of Lyrica tonight because its cold and I am suffering horrific nerve pain tonight. What meds do you take for your condition, you mentioned having tolerance. What did the hospital do for you and why didn't they do a scan last night if you were in so much pain, its been 10 years since you had one.

How did you like the pain clinic? Did you do a course in pain management?

I wish you well on Monday.
Eliza